The students of True Martial Academy were not actually fools. Wei Yi only managed to conceal his opportunistic money-making for a few days before someone discovered it.
That was only natural, really.
After all, the strength Wei Yi displayed in each match was always just a little greater than his opponent's. As time went on, even the biggest fool would notice something fishy.
But that did not matter to Wei Yi.
In those few short days, he had already earned enough to fill his pots and bowls to the brim.
A full seven hundred and thirty thousand taels of silver!
In other words... he had fleeced seventy-three idiots.
This completely exceeded Wei Yi's expectations.
At first, he had never imagined so many people would willingly fall into his trap.
But this also indirectly proved how attractive the Overlord Sect was.
Although True Martial Academy was one of the Great Chu Dynasty's ten great academies, at the end of the day, it was only an ordinary academy.
Its instructors were only Martial Masters and Great Martial Masters. How accomplished could the students they taught possibly become?
So, to truly grow strong, joining a top-tier power like the Overlord Sect was the fastest route.
Several days later, under the leadership of the academy's vice dean, Zhu Yuanhe, Wei Yi and the other nine left the academy and headed for the Overlord Sect.
The Overlord Sect was the undisputed overlord of the entire south.
Even the Great Chu Dynasty's influence in the south was actually far inferior to the Overlord Sect's.
In the eyes of many people and powers in Jiangnan, offending the Great Chu Dynasty was acceptable. After all, heaven was high and the emperor far away; the old emperor could not reach them.
But the Overlord Sect absolutely could not be offended.
Once they offended the Overlord Sect, they probably would not even have a chance to flee for their lives.
True Martial Academy was neither particularly far from nor particularly close to the Overlord Sect. After four or five days of nonstop travel, Wei Yi's party entered the Overlord Sect's sphere of influence.
Then, guided by members of the Overlord Sect, they arrived at its outer sect subsidiary academy.
That was right.
The outer sect subsidiary academy.
Although True Martial Academy had ten recommendation slots for entering the Overlord Sect, these so-called recommendation slots were actually only recommendations to enter its outer sect subsidiary academy.
In other words, they would become the Overlord Sect's lowest-ranking outer disciples.
Even without counting those scattered across its branch academies and branch halls, the Overlord Sect had several thousand outer disciples in this subsidiary academy alone.
And outer disciples who wanted to become full disciples still had to take an assessment.
Those who passed would be promoted to full disciples.
Those who failed would remain outer disciples.
In fact, even becoming an outer disciple was an opportunity countless people longed for but could not obtain. After all, these were outer disciples of the Overlord Sect. Although their status could not compare to that of inner disciples, they still inspired immense envy wherever they went.
More importantly, outer disciples were eligible for promotion to inner disciples, and even core disciples.
This was the opportunity everyone wanted most!
"This outer sect subsidiary academy has several thousand disciples. Nearly half were recommended by various powers, just as you were recommended by our True Martial Academy. The rest were recruited by the Overlord Sect's various branch halls."
"Apart from the new disciples, most of them are veteran disciples. As they compete for the chance to enter the inner sect, disputes are far from rare in the outer sect subsidiary academy."
"So you must help one another from now on. Only by uniting can you go further."
Zhu Yuanhe earnestly cautioned them.
"We understand."
Everyone answered in unison.
Zhu Yuanhe nodded slightly.
Then he glanced at his niece, Zhu Ling'er.
He sighed softly but said nothing more.
"Dean Zhu, since these are all outstanding talents selected by your academy, they naturally won't be too shabby. You can rest assured." Seemingly noticing Zhu Yuanhe's concern, a middle-aged man nearby came over and reassured him with a smile.
"Sorry for troubling you with all this, Dean Liu."
Zhu Yuanhe spoke courteously.
This Dean Liu was naturally not the dean of some academy, but a branch dean of the Overlord Sect's outer sect subsidiary academy.
The Overlord Sect's outer sect had more than a dozen branch academies, each with its own branch dean.
This middle-aged man was Liu Zhenxun, the dean of the Yi Dragon Branch Academy to which Wei Yi and the others had been assigned.
Although Liu Zhenxun was only a branch dean of the Overlord Sect's outer sect subsidiary academy, his strength was not to be underestimated. At the fifth-stage Martial Spirit Realm, he was powerful enough to be called a regional expert outside.
But within the Overlord Sect, he did not rank among its notable figures at all. Even this outer sect subsidiary academy alone had dozens of people with cultivation like his.
This showed just how terrifyingly powerful the Overlord Sect was.
After escorting Wei Yi and the others to the Overlord Sect, Zhu Yuanhe and his party soon left.
After all, they did not belong to the Overlord Sect.
If Wei Yi and the others wanted to make a name for themselves in the Overlord Sect, they would have to rely entirely on themselves.
"Your Dean Zhu and I can be considered friends. Since you're all from True Martial Academy, you can live in the same courtyard."
"As for how to divide up these rooms, you can choose for yourselves."
"Someone will come later to tell you about the outer sect subsidiary academy's specific daily activities and cultivation arrangements."
"Also, the inner sect assessment will take place in a month. That's what you most need to pay attention to."
As a branch dean in charge of several hundred outer disciples, Liu Zhenxun naturally had no time to linger and chat with Wei Yi and the others.
After giving them a few small conveniences out of consideration for Zhu Yuanhe, he soon left as well.
Before long, only Wei Yi and the other nine remained in the courtyard.
Everyone looked at one another.
They all realized that they were no longer students of True Martial Academy, but outer disciples of the Overlord Sect.
"Ding, player Wei Yi has joined the Overlord Sect and become an outer disciple of the Overlord Sect, triggering [Breakthrough Quest]." "Quest requirement: successfully complete the inner sect assessment in one month and become a full disciple of the Overlord Sect." "Quest time limit: two months." "Quest reward: successfully break through to the Great Martial Master Realm."
The breakthrough quest he had awaited for so long had finally arrived.
Wei Yi had already spent quite some time at the tenth-stage Martial Master realm.
But after reading the quest requirement, Wei Yi could not help smiling bitterly.
It was not that he found this breakthrough quest too difficult, but rather its timing... he actually had to wait another month.
"Ah, this really is torture."
There was nothing Wei Yi could do.
He could only resign himself to his fate.
"There are only five rooms. How should we divide them up?" asked Zhou Heng, a fourth-year student.
"Ling'er and I want the innermost room."
Another fourth-year student, Xu Huan, was the first to make her request.
Among the ten of them, she was the only girl besides Zhu Ling'er. The two got along fairly well, so naturally they would room together.
"Wei Yi, let's share a room."
Before Wei Yi could speak, someone beside him reached out and draped an arm over his shoulders.
Pei Qinghe, a third-year student, had a very outgoing personality, and Wei Yi had a fairly good impression of him.
"Can I say no?"
Wei Yi asked with a wry smile.
"No!"
Pei Qinghe immediately refused with a perfectly serious expression.
Everyone could not help laughing at that.
They all had fairly agreeable personalities, and none of them was the unsociable sort.
Especially now that they had just arrived in the unfamiliar Overlord Sect, fellow students from True Martial Academy felt particularly close.
The rooms were soon assigned.
Just as everyone was preparing to wash up and rest, someone suddenly kicked open the courtyard's main gate.
Seven or eight outer disciples with unfriendly expressions swaggered inside.
Their leader was a hook-nosed young man. He swept a contemptuous gaze over everyone, then spoke without the slightest courtesy.
"You're all newcomers. I don't care where you're from."
"Now that you've come to the Overlord Sect's outer sect, you'll have to follow the rules here."
"I won't waste any more words. Five thousand taels of silver each. That's the newcomers' protection fee. Be good and hand it over!"